On this day in movie history - The Kennel Murder Case (movie & novel):

The Kennel Murder Case

directed by Michael Curtiz,

written by Robert Presnell, Robert N. Lee and Peter Milne,

based on the novel by S.S. Van Dine,

was released in the United States on October 28, 1933.

Music by Bernhard Kaun.

Cast:

William Powell, Mary Astor, Eugene Pallette, Ralph Morgan, Robert McWade, Robert Barrat, Frank Conroy, Etienne Girardot, Paul Cavanagh, James Lee, Arthur Hohl, Helen Vinson, Jack La Rue, Harry Allen, Wade Boteler, George Chandler, Spencer Charters, Leo White.

Recommended reading:

The Kennel Murder Case

By S.S. Van Dine.

First published 1933.

Published by Scribner Paper Fiction

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0684182483

ISBN-13: 978-0684182483

Description:

Vance, an independently wealthy college educator, amateur detective, uses his deductive skills and psychological knowledge to help his friend New York County Attorney solve the murder of Archer Coe. At first, he thought of suicide when Coe's body was found in a room locked from the inside with all the windows closed. As usual, the action takes place in New York. Vance's methods are unconventional and run counter to the more stringent police investigation methods and legal requirements of a lawyer.

Given all the rich people getting bumped off in Philo Vance's Manhattan, it's amazing there are enough left to support the symphony. Latest up: Arthur Coe, found dead in his own locked bedroom. Suicide? The ever-perceptive Philo doesn't buy that theory for a second. The presence in Coe's house of a strange, prize-winning terrier only adds to the mystery, although Philo's fabulously in-depth knowledge of dogs does not in fact solve the crime; his fabulously in-depth knowledge of the murder of the Empress Elizabeth of Austria in 1898 proves much more useful.

Praise for the Philo Vance series:

“With his highbrow manner and his parade of encyclopedic learning, Philo Vance is not only a detective; he is a god out of the machine.” – The New York Times.

“Well-crafted puzzlers that captivated readers . . . the works of S.S. Van Dine serve to transport the reader back to a long-gone era of society and style of writing.” – Mystery Scene.

“Outrageous cleverness . . . among the finest fruits of the Golden Age.” – Bloody Murder.

“A classic mystery featuring dogged detective Philo Vance. An intricate puzzle . . . [Vance] has an uncanny insight into the subtler aspects of crime.” – The New York Times.

On this day in movie history - The Maltese Falcon (movie & novel):

The Maltese Falcon

directed and written by John Huston,

based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett,

was released in the United States on October 18, 1941.
Music by Adolph Deutsch.

Cast:

Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre, Barton MacLane, Lee Patrick, Sydney Greenstreet, Ward Bond, Jerome Cowan, Elisha Cook Jr., James Burke, Murray Alper, John Hamilton, Walter Huston.

Recommended reading:

The Maltese Falcon

By Dashiell Hammett.

Introduction by Richard Russo.

First published 1930.

Published by Vintage Crime / Black Lizard.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0679722645

ISBN-13: 978-0679722649

Description:

“Hammett … wrote scenes that seemed never to have been written before.” – Raymond Chandler.

Detective Sam Spade is a private eye with his own solitary code of ethics. When his partner is killed during a stakeout, he is drawn into the hunt for a fantastic treasure with a dubious provenance – a golden bird encrusted with jewels. Also on the trail are a perfumed grifter named Joel Cairo, an oversized adventurer named Gutman, and Spade’s new client Brigid O’Shaughnessy, a beautiful and treacherous woman whose loyalties shift at the drop of a dime.

These are the ingredients of Dashiell Hammett’s coolly glittering gem of detective fiction, a novel that has haunted generations of readers.

“Hammett’s prose [is] clean and entirely unique. His characters [are] as sharply and economically defined as any in American fiction.” – The New York Times.

On this day in movie history - A Kiss Before Dying (1956):

A Kiss Before Dying

directed by Gerd Oswald,

written by Lawrence Roman,

based on the novel by Ira Levin,

was released in the United States on June 12, 1956.
Music by Lionel Newman.

Cast:

Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia Leith, Joanne Woodward, Mary Astor, George Macready, Robert Quarry, Howard Petrie, Bill Walker, Molly McCart, Marlene Felton, Albert Cavens, Robert Ivers, Mickey Martin, Joe McGuinn, Edwin Rochelle, Jack Stoney.

Born on this day – Mary Astor:

Mary Astor

Actress

May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987

Credits:

A Kiss Before Dying (1956); A Stranger in My Arms (1959); A Successful Calamity (1932); A Trip Through the Paramount Studio (1927); Across the Pacific (1942); Act of Violence (1948); Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1958–1959); All But Forgotten (1978); American Cinema (1995); And So They Were Married (1936); Any Number Can Play (1949); Backstory (2001); Beau Brummel (1924); Behind Office Doors (1931); Ben Casey (1963); Blonde Fever (1944); Breakdowns of 1941 (1941); Brigham Young (1940); Brother of the Bear (1921); Buick-Electra Playhouse (1960); Bullets or Ballots (1921); Burke's Law (1963); Cass Timberlane (1947); Catalogue of Ships (2008); Checkmate (1962); Claudia and David (1946); Climax! (1955–1957); Convention City (1933); Cynthia (1947); Danger (1954); Desert Fury (1947); Dinky (1935); Dodsworth (1936); Don Juan (1926); Don Q Son of Zorro (1925); Dr. Kildare (1962–1963); Dressed to Kill (1928); Dry Martini (1928); Easy to Love (1934); Enticement (1925); Fiesta (1947); Forever After (1926); Front Row Center (1955); Frontier Justice (1959); General Electric Theater (1959); Heart to Heart (1928); High Steppers (1926); Holiday (1930); Hollywood (1923); Hollywood (1980); Hollywood and the Stars (1963); Hollywood My Home Town (1965); Hollywood Without Make-Up (1963); Hollywood: The Golden Years (1961); Home Stories (1990); Hope (1922); Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964); I Am a Thief (1934); In the Good Old Summertime Intro (2004); Inez from Hollywood (1924); James Dean's Lost Slideshow (2013); Jennie Gerhardt (1933); John Smith (1922); Justice (1955); Kraft Theatre (1951–1954); Kraft Theatre / The Philco Television Playhouse (1954); Kraft Theatre / The United States Steel Hour (1955–1960); Ladies Love Brutes (1930); Lady from Nowhere (1936); Listen, Darling (1938); Little Women (1949); Lux Video Theatre (1956–1957); Man of Iron (1935); Matinee Theatre (1956); Meet Me in St. Louis (1944); Meet the Stars #3: Variety Reel #1 (1941); Men of Chance (1931); Midnight (1939); My Lady o' the Pines (1921); New Year's Eve (1929); Nihon eiga no hyaku nen / Century of Cinema (1995); No Place to Go (1927); No Time to Marry (1938); Northern Exposure (1994); Oh, Doctor! (1925); Okay for Sound (1946); Other Men's Women (1930); Page Miss Glory (1935); Paradise for Three (1938); Person to Person (1960); Playhouse 90 (1957–1960); Playing with Souls (1925); Playwrights '56 (1956); Ponds Theater (1955); Producers' Showcase (1955); Puritan Passions (1923); Rawhide (1961); Red Dust (1932); Red Hot Tires (1935); Return of the Terror (1934); Return to Peyton Place (1961); Robert Montgomery Presents (1956); Romance of the Underworld (1928); Rose of the Golden West (1927); Sailors' Wives (1928); Scarlet Saint (1925); Screen Snapshots Series 15, No. 12 (1936); Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Memories (1951); Second Fiddle (1923); Sentimental Tommy (1921); Show of Shows (1929); Smart Woman (1931); Some of the Greatest (1955); Star Stage (1956); Stay Tuned (1992); Straight from the Heart (1935); Studio 57 (1956); Studio One (1954–1958); Success (1923); That's Entertainment, Part II (1976); The Angelus (1922); The Beggar Maid (1921); The Best of Broadway (1954); The Bright Shawl (1923); The Case of the Howling Dog (1934); The Confession (2018); The Defenders (1963); The Devil's Hairpin (1957); The Dick Cavett Show (1971); The Ed Sullivan Show (1956); The Elgin Hour (1955); The Fighting American (1924); The Fighting Coward (1924); The Great Lie (1941); The Hollywood Gad-About (1934); The Hurricane (1937); The Kennel Murder Case (1933); The Lash (1930); The Little Giant (1933); The Lost Squadron (1932); The Maltese Falcon (1941); The Man Who Played God (1922); The Man with Two Faces (1934); The Marriage Maker (1923); The Murder of Dr. Harrigan (1935); The Pace That Thrills (1925); The Palm Beach Story (1942); The Philadelphia Story (1959); The Power and the Prize (1956); The Price of a Party (1924); The Prisoner of Zenda (1937); The Rapids (1922); The Rough Riders (1927); The Royal Bed (1931); The Rules of Film Noir (2009); The Runaway Bride (1930); The Sea Tiger (1927); The Sin Ship (1931); The Sunset Derby (1927); The Twentieth Century (1959); The Wise Guy (1926); The Woman from Hell (1929); The World Changes (1933); The Young Painter (1922); There's Always a Woman (1938); This Happy Feeling (1958); Those We Love (1932); Thousands Cheer (1943); Thriller (1960); 3-Ring Marriage (1928); To the Ladies (1923); Tomorrow Coast to Coast (1974); Trapped by Television (1936); Turnabout (1940); Two Arabian Knights (1927); U.S. Marshal (1958–1960); Unguarded Women (1924); Upperworld (1934); WAMPAS Baby Stars of 1926 (1926); White Shoulders (1931); Wings of the Border (1921); Woman Against Woman (1938); Woman-Proof (1923); Yesterday and Today (1953); Young Ideas (1943); Youngblood Hawke (1964); Zane Grey Theatre (1957).